Prussia "Preußen" Prussia began as a small territory in what was later called West and East Prussia. The region was largely populated by Old Prussians and was later subject to colonization by Germans, as well as by Poles and Lithuanians along border regions. Prussia was a historic state which for centuries had substantial influence on German and European history. The name Prussia is derived from the old "Prussians", a Baltic people related to the Lithuanians. It was later conquered by the Teutonic Knights and thereafter slowly Germanized. From the Protestant Reformation, circa 1500 and onward, the Prussian motto was 'Suum cuique' meaning "To Each, His Own". Later, it would become the motto of the Order of the Black Eagle, created by King Frederick I. The Protestant Reformation, also referred to as the Protestant Revolution, was a movement to reform the Catholic Church in Western Europe. The Reformation was started by Martin Luther with his 95 Theses on the practice of indulgences. In late October of 1517 he posted his theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, commonly used to post notices and the Reformation began. East Prussia "Ostpreußen" East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1773-1824 and 1878 to 1945. Between 1824 and 1878 it was joined with West Prussia in the Province of Prussia. It had been created out of the territories of Ducal Prussia and Warmia. East Prussia was located along the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, where it enclosed the bulk of the ancestral lands of the now-extinct Old Prussians. Around 300 BC an Old Prussian settlement called Tvanksta was founded near the site of historical Königsberg. This settlement was conquered and destroyed during the conquest of Prussia by the Teutonic Order. In its place Königsberg "King's Mountain", was founded in 1255 by Bohemian King Otakar II of Bohemia and named in his honor due to his involvement in the Northern Crusades. The city was located at the mouth of the Pregolya River and served as an inlet of the Baltic Sea. It became the capital of the German province of East Prussia. Prior to that it was the capital of the earlier Ducal Prussia, and before that of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. The East Prussian capital of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 and is the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, in the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania. West Prussia "Westpreußen" In the Thirteen Years' War from 1454 to 1466, the towns of Pomerelia and western Prussia rebelled against the Teutonic Knights and sought the assistance of King Kazimierz IV Jagiellon of Poland. In the Peace of Torun in 1466, Pomerellia and western Prussia became the Polish province of Royal Prussia, while eastern Prussia remained with the Teutonic Knights, who were reduced to vassals of Poland. Royal Prussia became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. Most of Royal Prussia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland in 1772, and became the Province of West Prussia the following year, with the exception of Warmia which joined with Ducal Prussia to form the Province of East Prussia. In 1793, during the Second Partition of Poland, the Hanseatic city of Danzig "Gdansk", was also annexed into the Kingdom of Prussia. West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773-1824 and 1878-1918. In 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, southern parts of West Prussia were moved to the Duchy of Warsaw. From 1824 to 1878 West Prussia was combined with East Prussia to form the Province of Prussia, after which they were reestablished as separate provinces. After the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, most of West Prussia was granted to the Second Polish Republic, while small parts of the west and east of the former province remained in Germany. The western remainder formed Posen-West Prussia in 1922, while the eastern remainder became part of the District of West Prussia within East Prussia. In the Potsdam Conference of 1945 after World War II, all of former West Prussia was placed under the administration of Poland and was later recognized as part of Poland by East and West Germany in ensuing decades. Kingdom of Prussia Since 1618 both Brandenburg and Prussia were ruled by Hohenzollern dukes. The Kingdom of Prussia "Königreich Preußen" was a kingdom from 1701 to 1918 formed out of the territory of Brandenburg and the duchy of Prussia. When Frederick William, the "Great Elector" of Brandenburg-Prussia, died in 1688 his possessions passed to his son Frederick III. Frederick became Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg. In 1700 he convinced Leopold I, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor, to allow Prussia to be ruled as a kingdom. This agreement was given in exchange for an alliance against King Louis XIV of France and in return for Hohenzollern assistance in the War of the Spanish Succession. Frederick III wanted to show his greatness by adopting the title king and on January 18, 1701 Frederick III crowned himself king in Königsberg, East Prussia where he was born. At the time there were only three royal titles within the Empire: "King of the Germans", a title held by the Emperor, "King of Bohemia", often held by the Emperor as well, and "King of the Romans", held by the Emperor's heir. The duchy of Prussia surrounding Königsberg in historical East Prussia, was a remnant of the much larger state in the middle ages known as the "Knights of the German Order". The emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation granted this crusading order, known as the "Deutsche Orden", the right to use the black eagle of the empire on their shields and war flags. Later on in 1701 King Frederick III, a family member of the Hohenzollern dynasty, adopted the black eagle as part of his family's crest and coat of arms. Henceforth the Prussian eagle, now royally crowned and blazened on its breast the intertwined initials 'FR' for 'Fredericus Rex', meaning Frederick the King or, simply, King Frederick. Later that year he founded The Order of the Black Eagle "Schwarzer-Adler-Orden" which was the highest order of chivalry in Prussia. It had a very limited membership, primarily to royalty and high heads of state, although it was also awarded to some high-ranking military officers. The Order had only one class, which wore the badge of the Order on a collar or chain, or on a sash on the left shoulder, plus the star of the Order on the left chest. The star of the Order was a silver eight-pointed star, with straight or faceted rays depending on the jeweller's design. The central disc had a black eagle on a golden background, surrounded by a white enamelled ring bearing the motto of the Order, Suum Cuique, "To Each, His Own". The badge of the Order was a gilt Maltese Cross enamelled in blue, with black eagles between the arms of the cross. The gilt central disc bore the Royal monogram, 'FR' for 'Fredericus Rex'. The new Kingdom of Prussia was very poor not having fully recovered from the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War and its territory was scattered from the lands of the Duchy of Prussia on the south-east coast of the Baltic Sea, to the Hohenzollern heartland of Brandenburg, to the exclaves of Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg in the Rhineland. In 1708, approximately one third of the population of the Duchy of Prussia fell victim of the bubonic plague. In 1710 the plague eventually receded before it could reach the capital of Berlin. Sweden's defeat in 1721 by Russia, Saxony, Poland, Denmark-Norway, Hanover, and Prussia in the Great Northern War marked the end of significant Swedish power on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. In the Prusso-Swedish Treaty of Stockholm, Prussia regained Sweden's holding in Pomerania. The Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg had held the decline of their rule to the Duchy of Pomerania since 1472. In 1740, King Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, came to the throne. Using the pretext of a treaty by which parts of Silesia were to pass to Brandenburg after the extinction of its ruling dynasty, Frederick invaded Silesia. This was the beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession. After rapidly occupying Silesia, Frederick offered to protect Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria if the province were turned over to him. The offer was rejected, but Austria faced several other opponents, and Frederick was eventually able to gain formal cession with the Treaty of Berlin in 1742. In 1744 Frederick invaded again, this time to claim the province of Bohemia. He failed, but French pressure on Austria's ally Great Britain led to a series of treaties and compromises, culminating in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that restored peace and left Prussia in possession of most of Silesia. Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with France and Russia, while Prussia drifted into alliance with Great Britain. When Frederick pre-emptively invaded Saxony and Bohemia in 1756, he initiated the Seven Years' War. This war was a desperate struggle for the Prussian Army, and the fact that it managed to fight much of Europe bears witness to Frederick's military skills. Facing Austria, Russia, France and Sweden with only Hanover and the non-continental British as notable allies, Frederick managed to prevent serious invasion. Then in October 1760 the Russian army briefly occupied Berlin and Königsberg. The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia. The accession of the Prussophile Peter III relieved the pressure on the eastern front. Sweden also exited the war at about the same time. Defeating the Austrian army at the Battle of Burkersdorf, and relying on continuing British success against France in the war's colonial theatres, Prussia was able to force a status quo in the war in Europe. This result confirmed Prussia's major role within the German states and established the country as a European great power. To the east and south of Prussia, the Polish Commonwealth had gradually weakened during the 18th century. In 1772, due to increasing Russian influences in Polish affairs and by a possible expansion of the Russian Empire, Frederick took part in the first of the Partitions of Poland between Russia, Austria and Prussia to maintain a balance of power. The Kingdom of Prussia annexed most of the Polish province of Royal Prussia, including Warmia. The following year the annexed land became the Province of West Prussia. The new territory connected East Prussia, the territory previously known as the Duchy of Prussia, with Pomerania, uniting the kingdom's eastern territories. After Frederick the Great died in 1786, his nephew Fredrick William II continued the partitions, gaining a large part of western Poland in 1793. In 1795, the Kingdom of Poland ceased to exist and a large area, including Warsaw, to the south of East Prussia became part of Prussia. These new territories were reorganized into the Provinces of New Silesia, South Prussia, and New East Prussia. Prussia took a leading part in the French Revolutionary Wars, but remained quiet for more than a decade due to the Peace of Basel of 1795, only to go once more to war with France in 1806 as negotiations with that country over the allocation of the spheres of influence in Germany failed. Prussia suffered a devastating defeat against Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, leading Frederick William III and his family to flee temporarily to Memel. By the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, the state lost about half of its area, in particular the areas gained from the second and third Partitions of Poland, which now fell to the Duchy of Warsaw. Beyond that, the king was obliged to make an alliance with France and join the Continental System. In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was abolished as a result of Napoleon's victories over Austria. The title of Prince-elector of Brandenburg became meaningless, and was dropped. Before this time, the Hohenzollern sovereign had held many titles from Head of the Evangelical Church to King, Elector, Grand Duke, and Duke for the various regions and realms under his rule. As a result of Prussia's defeat in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, King Frederick William III was forced to temporarily flee to Prussia. After the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807 Prussia lost about half of its territory including the land gained from the Second and Third Partitions of Poland, which now fell to the Duchy of Warsaw, and all land west of the Elbe River. The remainder of the kingdom was occupied by French troops and the king was obliged to make an alliance with France and join the Continental System. After the defeat of Napoleon in Russia, Prussia quit the alliance and took part in the Sixth Coalition during the "Wars of Liberation", known as "Befreiungskriege", against the French occupation. Prussian troops under Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher contributed crucially in the Battle of Waterloo of 1815 to the final victory over Napoleon. The Iron Cross was established in 1813 during the war against Napoleon as a decoration for the courageous common soldier. The Prussian warflag was adopted on 28 november 1816. Originally it displayed a swallow-tailed for one fifth of the total length, but later the tail was abandoned. It shows the Prussian eagle which is two thirds of the flags height. In the canton, upper corner of the flag, was placed the Iron Cross. It was also used in the French-German war of 1870 and again in World War I and World War II. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814 Prussia was granted most of its lost territories and considerably more, including over a third of the Kingdom of Saxony and much of the Rhineland. With these Prussian gains in territory, the kingdom was restructured into ten provinces. Most of the kingdom, aside from the Provinces of East Prussia, West Prussia, and Posen, became part of the new German Confederation, which replaced the defunct Holy Roman Empire. As a consequence of the Revolutions of 1848, the Principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen, which was ruled by a branch of the House of Hohenzollern, were annexed by Prussia in 1850. In 1861 Prussia annexed Schleswig-Holstein. In 1862 Otto von Bismarck was installed as the new Prime Minister of Prussia. Then in 1866 the Austro-Prussian War, also called the Seven Weeks' War, broke out. This was a war between the Austrian Empire and its German allies and Prussia with its German and Italian allies. Most of the German states sided with Austria against Prussia, which was perceived as the aggressor. These included Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hanover, Hesse and Nassau. Some of the northern German states joined Prussia, in particular Oldenburg, Mecklenburg and Brunswick. Also, Italy joined with Prussia, because Austria still ruled the territory of Venetia that the Kingdom of Italy wanted in order to complete Italian unification. However, in fear of intervention in the war by France or Russia, Bismarck persuaded the king of Prussia to make peace with the Austrians, rather than continue the war in hopes of further gains. The Austrians agreed to making peace and accepted mediation of the treaty from France's Napoleon III. The Treaty of Prague on August 23, 1866 resulted in the dissolution of the German Confederation and the permanent exclusion of Austria from German affairs. The Kingdom of Prussia dominated northern Germany politically, economically, and in terms of population as an outcome of the Austro-Prussian War, and became the core of a new unified Germany. In 1867 Prussia formed the North German Confederation, incorporating all the German states north of the Main river. Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia was made Chancellor of the new Confederation. Prussia also chose not to seek Austrian territory after the war which made it possible for Prussia and Austria to ally in the future. This was especially beneficial to Austria since it was more threatened by Italy than Prussia. Later, in 1870, a sense of German nationalism would compel the remaining independent German states to ally with Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War. The war lasted less than a year and with the defeat of France in 1871 came the creation of the German Empire. The official name of the German Empire was "Deutsches Reich". It was also called the Second Reich. Thirteen provinces made up this new Empire. With the creation of the German Empire, King William of Prussia was declared Kaiser William I. William had become the first German Emperor and Bismarck became the Imperial Chancellor. The newly united Germany would become one of the most powerful of all the European countries. The constitution of the German Empire was mostly derived from that of North German Confederation. Prussia's dominance over the empire was almost absolute. Prussia took up three-fifths of the Empire's territory and two-thirds of its population. The Imperial German army was, in practice, an enlarged Prussian army, although the other kingdoms, Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg, retained their own armies. The prime minister of Prussia was also imperial chancellor.Before 1919 Prussia occupied more than half of all Germany and the major part of North Germany. It consisted of 14 provinces as denoted on this map of Prussia and the German Empire. In 1888 Wilhelm II, the last of the Hohenzollern dynasty, became Emperor of Germany. He was known as the Kaiser and ruled until Germany's defeat in World War I. After World War I, Germany was forced to give up the Danzig Corridor to Poland and Danzig once again became a free city. This caused the province of East Prussia to be separated from the rest of Germany. In 1919, with the end of the Hohenzollern monarchy in Germany following World War I, Prussia became part of the Weimar Republic as a free state until World War II. In 1934 Prussia was abolished by the Nazis and by the Allied Powers in 1945. The territory once known as East Prussia was split up between the Warmia-Masuria area in northern Poland, the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave of Russia, and the Klaipeda Region of Lithuania. With the end of National Socialist rule in 1945 came the division of Germany into Zones of Occupation, and the transfer of control of everything east of the Oder-Neisse line, (including Silesia, Farther Pomerania, Eastern Brandenburg, and southern East Prussia), to Poland (with the northern third of East Prussia, including Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, going to the Soviet Union). Today the Kaliningrad Oblast is a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland. On February 25, 1947, after the Second World War, the Allied Control Council formally proclaimed the dissolution of the remains of the Prussian state. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, which became East Germany in 1949, the former Prussian territories were reorganized into the states of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, with the remaining parts of the Province of Pomerania going to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. These states were abolished in 1952 in favour of districts, but were recreated after the fall of communism in 1990. In the Western Zones of occupation, which became West Germany in 1949, they were divided up among North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Schleswig-Holstein. Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were later merged with Baden to create the State of Baden-Württemberg.